Or, welcome to my low-maintenance heck.

Gov. Mike Easley [a Democrat, incidentally] on Tuesday defended overseas cultural exchange trips led by his wife that cost taxpayers $109,000, saying such visits can reap exponentially larger monetary rewards for the state with art exhibits.

Mary Easley, an executive assistant and a Highway Patrol trooper traveled to France in May 2007, while the first lady and state arts leaders also went to Russia and Estonia in May this year.

For the France trip, taxpayers paid more than $27,000 for the chauffeured Mercedes sport utility vehicle that Mary Easley used, according to The News & Observer of Raleigh, which first reported on the expenses.

Another $8,900 was paid to the first lady, the assistant and a state highway patrol trooper, who provided security, to stay in a hotel and participate in a Monet-themed tour.

Of course, if memory serves correctly, some guy named Benjamin Franklin travelled to France, too. Did he need a $27,000 chauffeured Mercedes SUV? Nope. Did he even have bodyguards? Not in the least, as he was reported to have gotten a lot of attention by walking around the streets of Paris alone.

But hey, I guess there's gotta be a rational explanation for this. Could it be that the Easley family is infinitely more important to our nation than Ben was?

Pfft. That whole "electricity" thing was highly overrated anyway.

Big h/t William Teach, who actually has to live with the utter brilliance that is North Carolina governance.

Termites don't like it when Terminix shows up, either. That doesn't make me have any sympathy for them. ;)

In all seriousness, which local media was in his face? I've lived an entire lifetime visiting family in Raleigh, and all I've ever seen of the news around there has been [i]totally[/i] docile towards the Democrat-controlled mess.

Of course he did not like it. He probably thought he deserved those benefits. And now the media is attacking, HIM? how dare they. He isn't a conservative.

Don't they know that he is doing it FOR THE PEOPLE. All those trips to the art museums will undoubtedly benefit the slums and illegals living in the state. Welfare moms should be praising her for taking the pain and going to France with a chauffeur. So what if she spent more than what many people make in a year (under welfare).